No Small Parts - Boaz
June 14, 2020 Sunday Evening Study

I have a sister - she is 8 years older than me. The thing about my sister that seems to spark the most interest when I mention her is that she lives in India, and has off and on for the past 2 decades. She met her husband in a way that so often starts as a cautionary tale, but turned out good in the end, as they have been married now for nearly 19 years. They met online, chatting with each other for months before she traveled to India to meet him, where they actually got married just after meeting. Then they had to spend nearly a full year apart - as shortly after she returned to the US the twin towers fell, and he was unable to get the required Visa to come to America as they had planned.

Several years ago, they were living outside of Atlanta, Georgia running a boutique in a touristy little town in the mountains. They seemed very settled, and were doing well. Then suddenly, at least to those of us watching from afar, they sold their business and picked up and moved to India again. As it happens, her husband Ranji’s father had passed away, and Ranji immediately returned to care for his mother and sister. 

Now understand, this family is enormously wealthy. They live in Mumbai, and they own a textiles factory which is world renowned - even having supplied textiles to the revamp of the Taj Mahal. The family had all of the help they needed without Ranji uprooting their lives to be there. Yet, this is how things are done in India. There is no decision to be made here, at least in their eyes - it is the responsibility of the son to care for the family if the father is gone. There is no complaint or resentment - it is simply the way things are.

There are customs like this in every society, and many of these customs have been around for many years. Even here in the US, there are traditions within families of how people and estates are to be cared for after someone passes.

If we remember the law as relayed by Moses in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 there was a custom called the Levirate Marriage process. This situation explained that if a woman was widowed without bearing a child, that she had the right to marry her late husband’s brother (if he lived in the same town) to have a child with him as a surrogate son for the deceased.

In the story of Ruth, we are introduced to a title called the Kinsmen Redeemer - something which comes directly from this Levirate process. Before we get further in, I want to begin with a bird’s eye view of the book of Ruth.

The context of Ruth is where the Israelites are constantly turning to idols, are mostly fractured, and are being attacked and defeated on all sides as they are not living according to the Sinai Covenant. The book of Ruth is an excellently told story of God’s providence even in the chaos of the period of Judges. The story also reveals the humble great-grandparents of King David.

We begin with Elimelek of Bethlehem and his wife Naomi, along with their two sons. Because of a famine, they leave their homeland in Judah and go to Moab, as there was apparently food there. In this Elimelek was breaking the covenant with God, and he dies soon after going to Moab. The sons likewise break the covenant by marrying Moabite women, and they too die. Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law - a non-family in a land where they have no kin and no protection.

When the famine had subsided in Judah, Naomi tried to send the girls back to the homes of their parents to be taken care of so that she could return to her home in shame. While one departed, the other, Ruth, refused to leave Naomi. She pledged herself as Naomi’s family and abandoned the gods of her own heritage in favor of YHWH. They returned to Bethlehem together - and everybody saw them return with nothing.

In order to survive, Naomi sent Ruth to the fields to glean, as is allowed under Mosaic law. This meant that she could follow behind the field workers and take any grain they might have missed. She goes to the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelek. Boaz notices her, and impressed by her adherence to law (which most foreigners would not have known) and her reputation as a helper and family for Naomi the widow, invites her to glean only in his field, instructing his workers to both leave extra for her and to protect her. He invites her to eat with him, and she goes home with nearly 30 lbs of grain.

Naomi, taken aback by the amount Ruth has brought, encourages her to stay with Boaz’s workers until the harvest is completed, and proceeds to tell her about the family connection with Boaz. She calls him the guardian-redeemer or kinsman-redeemer.

After the harvest is finished, Naomi is concerned for Ruth’s future, and sends Ruth to Boaz to cash in on this guardian-redeemer business. Ruth goes to Boaz under Naomi’s instruction, waits until he is asleep, and lays at his feet on the threshing floor after uncovering them. He awakens, finds her, and sends her back to Naomi with more food, telling her that he will in fact redeem her if someone else who holds a stronger claim passes.

The following day Boaz goes to the city gate, finds the man with the stronger claim, and legally gains the right to wed Ruth and redeem the family name. Boaz removes his sandal to signify the transfer and purchase of property as he buys Elimelek’s lands, and claims Ruth as his wife before all of the Elders and witnesses there. Ruth and Boaz have a son Obed, who fully restores Naomi. Obed is the father of Jesse, the grandfather of David.

So what makes Boaz unique? Boaz functions in the story as an example of obedience to covenant law and God’s reward for faithfulness. A relative closer to Elimelech, who refuses to marry Ruth, serves as a foil for Boaz, but Boaz’ supreme act of virtue is not his marriage to Ruth, but rather his willingness to inform the nearer kinsman of his rights. By this gesture Boaz was setting aside his personal desires for the requirements of the covenant law. Boaz was a man advancing in years who probably had no children of his own, given the response from the witnesses, the story shows that he was rewarded with a wife and son for his commitment.

There is more to this. There is a lot of debate around the events which occurred on the threshing floor. As we do word studies and studies of Ancient Near Eastern customs, there certainly does appear to be more to the story here.

Ruth bathes, puts on perfume, and dresses in her best clothing to approach Boaz. This hints at the idea of seduction. Further, she is instructed to uncover Boaz’s feet once he is asleep. The word used here, translated as feet in the NIV, actually translates as “lower limbs.” To further complicate the matter, that word was used in a sort of slang of the day to also mean genitals. As this takes place on the threshing floor, the place commonly associated with infidelity in that day, we are left with quite a scene. 

In other words: here is a vision of a middle-aged guy who wakes up to an at least marginally attractive woman half his age lying at his feet in a seductive manner while relaxed by consumption of alcohol and exposed - and he acts honorably, even heroically. If that vision is accurate, there is a lot to be said about this character. Ruth essentially gives herself to him, and he shows her respect - respect that was not often shown to women, especially Moabite women of no standing. What we see here is a man who understands how to treat a person with compassion and love in spite of his own desires. Even if this vision is not accurate and it is just as innocent as it seems at first glance, his behavior is uncommon among men of any age at any period in history.

Boaz’s legacy is a huge one - he is the honored 7th position in the line of David, meaning that he is kinsman to Jesus Christ. Later on, when Solomon’s temple is constructed, one of the front primary pillars of the temple is actually named Boaz as a symbol of strength.

Perhaps the strongest legacy is his role as kinsman-redeemer and how he mirrors what we now know of the Messiah. In the Law of Moses, a close relative functioned as a “redeemer” by buying back family land that had been sold, a relative who had sold himself into slavery, or by marrying the widow of a relative who had died to bear a son on the relative’s behalf (Lev 25:25-31, 47-55, Deut. 25:5-10)  In other words, a kinsman redeemer is someone who redeems a family member out of a difficult situation by taking the debt of that person onto themselves. 

In the NT Jesus is described as our “redeemer” - this is actually the same word used here. What it means to be redeemed is to be restored to fullness through the sacrifice of another. Galatians 3:13 states “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” and Titus 2:14 says “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” 

Jesus is not redeeming land or providing a family line. However, he does take our debt and ensures our inheritance in God’s family. Boaz’s story is representative of the grace we have received from God - a legacy worth remembering.